Across Georgia

JONESBORO, GA. — A woman told Clayton County police that she shot and killed a man who abducted her from Cobb County and raped her.

The woman said she was abducted in Cobb County Sunday night, according to Clayton County police spokesman Sgt. Otis Willis.

She told police that at one point during the ordeal she was able to get hold of a handgun and shoot her captor. It was unclear if the woman who was abducted had a relationship with the man or whose gun she used to shoot the man.

The man, who died of his injuries, had not been identified by Monday afternoon. Clayton County police were continuing to investigate.

Sergeant will be released from jail

CANTON, GA. — State officials say a former Cobb County police sergeant serving a prison sentence in connection with the boating death of his best friend will be released after serving 18 months of his sentence.

Kenneth Reda, 40, of Acworth will be released from prison today.

Reda pleaded guilty to second-degree homicide by vessel, tampering with evidence, violating the oath of a police officer and three counts of making false statements after the April 22 drowning death of Sgt. Brent Stephens.

The 35-year-old Stephens, who was Reda’s colleague on the SWAT unit, drowned after the boat in which they were riding clipped a pylon on Lake Allatoona. Stephens fell into the water, and his body was later recovered by a dive team.

Gun permits jump after shooting

MARIETTA, GA. — Authorities say permits for concealed weapons have surged in a large metro Atlanta county since the July 20 movie theater shooting rampage in Colorado that killed 12 people and wounded dozens more.

Melinda Carter, supervisor of Cobb County Probate Court’s firearms permit division, said officials typically process about 25 applications for concealed weapon permits each day. Since the shooting, that number had doubled to about 50 per day, she said.

City goes to court over meetings law

CUMMING, GA. — A Georgia city is challenging the state’s new sunshine laws in response to an open meetings lawsuit state Attorney General Sam Olens filed against its mayor.

Olens’ lawsuit is the first under Georgia’s new Open Meetings and Open Records acts.

The lawsuit states that Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt and police barred Nydia Tisdale from videotaping an April 17 city council meeting. The new law, which went into effect the same day, provides for visual and sound recordings of public meetings and authorizes the attorney general to sue violators and seek penalties.

The city responded to the lawsuit on July 19, arguing that Gravitt was presiding over the meeting in his official capacity and is protected under the Georgia Constitution’s sovereign immunity doctrine.

Emory gift will increase diversity

ATLANTA — A $2.5 million gift aims to promote diversity in the student body at Emory School of Law.

The gift from Mary E. and C. Robert Henrikson will double the reach of the Henriksons’ endowed scholarship, which was created a decade ago. The donation is the largest individual gift in the law school’s history.

Of the total amount, $1.5 million will go to the Henriksons’ endowed scholarship fund. The remaining $1 million will be allocated for additional financial aid, and will serve as a challenge grant for matching gifts that will go to Emory Law’s annual fund.

Henrikson graduated from Emory Law in 1972. He’s a former chair of the board, president and CEO of MetLife Inc. and serves on the Board of Trustees of Emory University.